Removable frame and handle assembly



June 16, 1964 E. s; TUPPER 3,137,423

REMOVABLE FRAME AND HANDLE ASSEMBLY Filed May 21, 1958 IN VENTOR.

1542i. 6. TL/7E2 Z BY United States Patent 3,137,423 REMOVABLE FRAME AND HANDLE ASSEMBLY Earl S. Tupper, Esmond, R.I., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Rexall Drug and Chemical Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Fiied May 21, 1958, Ser. No. 736,756 2 Claims. (Cl. 224-45) This invention relates generally to an oriented and resiliently distortable configuration of plastic to serve as a removable harness for vessels of all types, said harness having vessel reinforcing elements and handengageable bail elements. The vessels include containers, bags, lunch and food kits, cans, all types of hand transportable carrying devices, packages and the like, and the harness and combination with any selective vessel are adapted for industrial, cornmercial, domestic and personal uses.

More specifically, the invention encompasses structures having frictionally fitting or otherwise removable reinforcing resiliently distortable or yieldable framing elements for said vessels, said framing elements being provided with integrally and otherwisely formed hand grip, handle or bail extensions, said framing elements serving not only as mounting means for the said hand engaging members, but also as yieldable and resilient reinforcing means for the vessel walls.

In providing hand engaging members for supporting and transporting vessels of all types, many fabricating problems are met including economy of manufacture, structural design, efficiency of operation, durability, capacity for load support, capacity to sustain unequal load distribution, capacity to resist distortion of the vessel walls, and-reinforcement of areas of relative weakness. It is well recognized, moreover, that handles or other hand engageable means on vessels or the mounting means or trunnions therefor tend to be damaged or destroyed long before the basic vessel loses it utility. Such hand engageable members must also be provided with protective elements so as not to be a source of laceration or other injury to the hands. In addition, further problems are created by the use of handles accompanying such vessels in that overall dimensions thereof are increased thereby minimizing efficiency in the storing and stacking thereof and in that such handles afford dangerous projections.

Although the invention herein applies to vessels made of any material, it is shown in most embodiments as applied to vessels molded or formed of resilient and yieldable plastic. Such vessel walls provide the removable mounting for reinforcing frames or bands having as integral extensions thereof hand engaging members for supporting and carrying purposes, said bands or collars and hand engaging members being of resilient and yieldable plastic.

It is well known that handles for fabricated vessels of plastic give rise to strain on the vessel walls during support and carrying thereof especially at areas where vessel trunnions or equivalents thereof are used for the handle or bail mounting. In instances when metallic or other substantially non-yieldable collars or bands are used, the handles are usually attached for articulation or otherwise with the collar or band at the terminal portions thereof, and load distribution, whether equal or unequal, creates a distortion in the vessel walls by rea- 3,137,423 Patented June 16, 1964 son of the natural yieldability of said walls on each side of said relatively rigid bands. It is apparent that the effective value of such bands for reinforcement of the vessel walls is counterbalanced by the cutting effect thereof and the distortion producing strain of the vessel Walls adjacent the bands.

Accordingly, an object of the invention herein is provision of a structural assembly comprising resilient and yieldable plastic frame or band elements adapted for frictional or removable fitting to vessels and also comprising hand grip or bail elements or members of preferably the same material suitably formed or molded with the said band elements or members as extensions-thereof or otherwise and removable therewith. Thus, the removable band elements of frame members singly or plurally serve both as reinforcing elements because of smaller or diiferential resiliency and yieldability with respect to the vessel walls, and as single or cooperating comfortable handle members or bails at the extended portions of said band elements or frame members.

Another object of the invention resides in said type of structure wherein the handle, or bail members,or extensions all with respect to the frame elements are capable of being sprung for vessel supporting and carrying position owing to the molded configuration of the frame and bail assembly. I

Further objects of the invention reside in the provision of removable plastic harness assemblies engageable with vessels and being formed in any selective configuration, but a configuration designed for frictional engagement with peripheral elements of the cooperating vessel. The configuration is preferably formed of runs having uniform or dilferential selective cross-sectional shapes and sizes. Such shapes and sizes include rounded, curved, elliptical, polygonal, rectangular, hollow, solid and other irregular forms.

The harness is formed by any suitable molding and fabricating procedure from a plastic material into the required configuration. A'plastic which is inert, resiliently flexible and yieldable is preferred and includes the polymers and copolymers of olefins such as the polyethylenes and the polypropylenes, the nylons, vinyls, blends or alloys of these and other plastics blended or otherwise having either intrinsic similar physical characteristics or so manufactured as to have such characteristics.

The molding or forming procedure gives the harness configuration an orientation for resilient distortability as a result of setting in mold cavities forming the said configuration.

The harness above mentioned is simple to applyand remove, is durable, lengthens the life of the vessel, adds aesthetic character thereto, is economical to manufacture, and is strong in use.

, appended claims.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages of the invention. will hereinafter appear in the progress of the disclosurev and as pointed out in the Accompanying this specification are drawings showing several embodiments of theinvention whereinz' FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing a four sided operative position FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of a plurality of the vessels shown in FIGURE 1 in side by side relationship for stacking or storing purposes.

FIGURE 3 is a View in perspective showing the collar and bail elements.

FIGURE 4 is a view in perspective showing a slightly modified form of the collar and hail elements.

FIGURE 5 is a view in perspective of the modified form of FIGURE 4 mounted on a vessel shown in perspective wherein the bail element normally is disposed adjacent the side wall of the vessel.

FIGURE 6 is a view in perspective of a second modified form of the collar and bail elements mounted on a vessel shown fragmentarily and in perspective.

In FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, I have shown a harness as V sembly, generally indicated by letter E. The bail member or extension preferably does not project beyond the side walls of the vessel so as to provide minimum stacking room requirements when the vessels are stacked with the assemblies applied thereto.

Thus a vessel of tapered and rectangularly shaped form indicated by numeral 55 is provided with a spout 56. The reinforcing frame element and bail element assembly is indicated generally by numeral 57 and consists of the frame member 58 ofrectangular perirnetric shape with upwardly extending projections 59 and 60 intermediate and on opposite sides, said projections being joined to a handle or bail member 63 by sinuous and yieldable horizontal extensions 61 and 62. Upwardly too much room when vessels carrying such harness as semblies are stacked side by side. Moreover, the elimination of the projection of the bail members also contributes to safety in that the bail members do not afford dangerous projections for the associated vessel.

In FIGURES 4 and 5, I have shown aharness assembly indicated by letter F having reinforcing frame and a bail applicable to a tapering pail such as 71 of any type whether it be a bucket, garbage pail or otherwise, the harness assemblyof frame and handle being generally indicated by numeral 64. The reinforcing frame 65 is circular in perimetric form and is provided with upstanding ears or trunnions 66 and 67 to which are joined a downwardly extending loop, handle or bail member 68 at regions 69 and 70. It is to be noted that bail 68 in normal and non-carrying position is adapted to hug the side wall of vessel 71 at an oblique angle, and when sprung clears the top of the vessel by reason of the described conformation, the sprung position of bail member 68 being shown in phantom in FIGURE 5.

The harness assembly of FIGURE 6 shows a bail member which partially projects above the top of the associated vessel when in inoperative position, the remaining portion clinging to one of the side Walls of the vessel.

The frame and bail elements are generally indicated by numeral 72 and comprises a rectangularly shaped frame member 73 having a pair of upstanding ears 74 intermediate the opposite sides thereof. Said ears are pro vided with horizontally disposed sinuous sections 7 Shaving joined thereto at the ends a bail member having an intermediate handle portion 76 projecting upwardly from spaced bail sections 77 and 78, the latter sections being adapted to hug one of the side walls of the rectangular and tapered receptacle 79 carrying a spout 80. Thus, when handle portion 76 is sprung for supporting container 79, the sinuous sections 75 resiliently yield to permit clearance of the bail sections 77 and 78 with respect .to the adjacent container side wall.

a vessel and a handle-engageable element integrated with or suitably connected to the framing element for vessel support and carriage. The assembly is oriented in configuration for resilient distortability by any suitable means such as by the molding process or otherwise and all the runs of the configuration or at least at the framing element are resiliently yieldable or deformable to suitably adjust to the filling out of the vessel under load or to the support of the vessel in loaded or unloaded condition during suspension and carriage of the vessel from and by the hand-engageable element.

The hand-enga eabie element of the assembly may be formed in carrying position with respect to the framing element or in non-carrying position. If formed in noncarrying position, such hand-engageable element is brought to sprung position by hand engagement, the load of the suspended empty or filled vessel bringing about such sprung position.

The framing element of the assembly functions for safe reinforcement of the vessel by reason of load concentration along at least the resiliently yieldable side and bottom runs, a suitable gauge of said runs being provided to pre' vent rupture and at the same time to be yieldable to prea vent cutting into the vessel walls and to prevent undue distortion of the vessel walls laterally of the runs. It is to be understood, too, that after the harness assembly is applied to a vessel, frictional engagement with the'vessel walls need not take place until the vessel is suspended under load or otherwise. i

The vessel may be formed of the same or other variety of plastic as the framing element; or the vessel may be formed of non-plastic material.

The hand-engageable element of the assembly as shown in all the figures is formed with, resiliently connected to and is of the same material as the framing element; but it grace, streamlining and character to the associated parts; It is distinctly understood that all configurative sizesand shapes of the assemhl cross-sectional shapes and sizes of the runs thereof, variations in the means of integration of parts, duplication of parts, equivalent plastic materials used and different processes for fabricating the assembly and other minor changes and variations in the process and products described herein may all be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A removable frame and handle assembly adapted for use on a receptacle having a side wall, comprising a frame of monostrand material adapted to encircle said receptacle and adapted to tightly fit against said side wall such that the frame is maintained in position on the side wallsolely by frictional engagement; a handle having a first end affixed to the frame on one side of the receptacle and a second end afiixed to the frame on the opposite sideof the receptacle; portions of thehandle on each side of the receptacle having a sinuous shape to spriugably and releasibly maintain said handle in the proximity of said side wall; said frame and handle being resiliently. yieldable; and said handle being swingable relative to the frame and receptacle from a normal unsprung position in the proximity of the side wall to an upward sprung position;

said swinging of the handle being effected by elastically distorting the handle.

- 2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein a portion of said handle extends above the side wall of the receptacle I when the handle is in said normal unsprung position.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Jennings Jan. 27, 1959 Tupper Feb. 16, 1960 Kasch 1 Sept. 13, 1887 Kennard Sept. 18, 1928 Wolf Aug. 15 1933 Chichester-Miles Aug. 25, 1936 Mackilbank Feb. 19, 1937 Hanford July 14 1942 Tupper "Sept. 16, 1952 Fasano Nov. 2, 1954 Kahlan et a1 Mar, 13, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Dec. 28, 1399 Great Britain Sept. 14, 1955 

1. A REMOVABLE FRAME AND HANDLE ASSEMBLY ADAPTED FOR USE ON A RECEPTACLE HAVING A SIDE WALL, COMPRISING A FRAME OF MONOSTRAND MATERIAL ADAPTED TO ENCIRCLE SAID RECEPTACLE AND ADAPTED TO TIGHTLY FIT AGAINST SAID SIDE WALL SUCH THAT THE FRAME IS MAINTAINED IN POSITION ON THE SIDE WALL SOLELY BY FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT; A HANDLE HAVING A FIRST END AFFIXED TO THE FRAME ON ONE SIDE OF THE RECEPTACLE AND A SECOND END AFFIXED TO THE FRAME ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE RECEPTACLE; PORTIONS OF THE HANDLE ON EACH SIDE OF THE RECEPTACLE HAVING A SINUOUS SHAPE TO SPRINGABLY AND RE- 